The Ex Talk

Very cute and enjoyable romance. While the setup is somewhat predictable - two people meet and immediately dislike each other, only they end up drawn to each other, the story is also about overcoming grief, facing change, being alone in a new place, misogyny in the workplace, honesty, and overcoming obstacles for something that is worth it.

It took me until about 15-20% to get into this. I almost thought about DNFing it. I never really felt like I connected with Shay and she honestly seemed kind of whiny. Then the middle part was great once they start doing their radio show and getting to know each other. The story kind of fizzled again at about 85% and the conflict felt too over the top dramatic to me.

Read for the Kindle Clearout Readathon 2021

sigh when I tell y'all trying to nail down my rating for this book was so difficult, it really was. I really loved the last third of this book and the writing, but there were also a lot of issues I had with it.

Firstly, my main positive for this book is that I loved how realistic it seemed in regards to the whole relationship and the breaking up. Almost every contemporary romance has a third act breakup or on and off throughout the whole book. This book did that amazing. It made sense to me why the characters couldn't be together, and their issues weren't just thrown in there to create tension that wasn't needed.

I also really loved the podcast element because we got to see more of Dominic and how he acts. I loved the banter that happened and podcasts are one of my favorite things. I really think it added so much to the book

The romance and tension was also amazing, but it did feel a bit more like lust than romance. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I just wish there was a little bit more build up and chemistry because a lot of the book felt sudden. I was here for the steam and the smut, so I didn't mind that it was sudden, but I think that neither character was flushed out a ton, so it made their relationship fall a bit flat.

I really enjoyed Dominic's character, or what little we did have. He definitely could have been improved upon because he wasn't super 3 dimensional, but I loved everything we saw about him. His little beanie babies collection was the cutest and I loved the fact at some point he was actually annoying because it's realistic. I get annoyed with people I have an interest in all the time, and it's like affectionate annoyance.

But can I just say I absolutely despised Shay. She is one of the most annoying romance characters I've ever read. This girl's personality was literally her being insecure. Like ma'am I understand we all have insecurities but honey that is not a personality trait. She was so dry and had the personality of paper. I also feel like her in the office, her around her friends, and her in bed were 3 different characters. While Dominic had a switch from being office Dominic to chilling Dominic that felt natural, Shay just didn't.

I feel l like Shay also created a lot of unnecessary conflict with Dominic and her friends. I totally get being irritated and frustrated, but also you need to be understanding. That's something I'm still working on but Shay I feel like should know that for being in her late 20s. She honestly acted like a 15-year-old with a house. She was so complainy, and she just brought down everything in the book for me.

The steamy scenes were good for me, but the audiobook narrator honestly needed to chill. She was getting a little too into the scenes and the sound effects were not a personal favorite for me, but I did appreciate how the steam was done besides that.

Overall, there were parts of this I really enjoyed. I really liked the grief plotline that was woven in the book as well. But I can't get over the fact that Shay was so annoying, and I just didn't connect with her at all which is why I took off over a star.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing, Rachel Lynn Solomon, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“It can be exhausting, giving that much when the other person is barely giving anything”

I'm not afraid to admit that I absolutely loved this. Fake relationship? Check. Enemies to lovers? Check. This was so much fun for me.

This had me giggling and laughing out loud to the point that I was getting odd looks. I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did.

I absolutely loved Shay and Dominic's banter and just their overall characters in general. I tend to feel like some chemistry is forced in some books but that certainly was not the case for The Ex Talk, this had chemistry dripping from the pages from chapter two.

I wish I could give this five stars but I just felt like something was missing that I can't quite put my finger on.

Overall, I have to admit that this is definitely going to become a comfort read.

“I showed you my fucking Beanie Babies.”

I had so much hopes for this book. I was expecting some nice cute banter and all I got was whining.

The main character is imature, self centered, and so whiny that not even the cute dog can distract you from how awful she is (and we all know that's the only reason the dog was added to the book). The guys is also pretty much the embodiment of bare minimum twitter boyfriend.

And while I could've gotten pass all that had there been a good story arch, the MC is still the same by the end of the book. The only difference is that now she gets to be on a relationship at 30 which was obviously very important to her. And that is another thing I could not stomach in this book; the emphasis on having to be in a relationship and in love to be truly happy. So yeah, yikes.

a bit on the meh side. Giving 3 stars on account of my good mood, I guess - and the fact I usually love stories with convenience marriages and the lot. Shay is a radio producer who meets Dominic and pitches an idea for a live show - the two, who are ‘very honest', decide to lie to the public in order to do so because the slimy boss asks them to, and then have to fake a romance. You see where this is going, right? The typical drama before the happy end is a bit stupid and generally the main characters are not super captivating, so all in all it's just an okay romance.

3.5 Rounded to 4

It took me a while to get into this one. I initially had a hard time connecting with Shay and didn't like her character much. She tends to fall in love too easily and it feels like she has to have the man in her life validate that she is worth keeping...and that irritated me a bit. Also, at the age of 29, she seems a tad immature with how she approaches relationships and life in general. Maybe the author meant to portray her that way? Or maybe it's just me ...

Kent is irritating but then most men in a position of “power” are. Women are constantly overlooked for promotions and are seen as the ones to “take notes” instead of being treated equally so in that respect the author wrote him very well. He is a loathsome character.

I absolutely adore little Steve Rogers and LOVE that he just came in and took over....all what...7lbs of him?